Turning, she glanced out the window and across the parking lot, hoping to get one more glimpse of Ryan.
Instead, what she saw infuriated her. About ten cars away, Douglas rushed toward Nicholas and punched him in the stomach. The small boy doubled over, his face twisting in pain, and collapsed on the ground. Jason, who stood next to Douglas, laughed as Nicholas fell.
Before she even had time to think, Lora jumped out of the car and raced across the wet asphalt. She knelt on the ground next to Nicholas. “Are you all right?” she asked. Nicholas wheezed, but managed a pathetic nod of the head in reply. Fuming, Lora stood and found herself face to face with Douglas.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” she hissed, taking a step closer. The urge to overpower him welled within her, and, in the distance, the ocean’s song encouraged her torment. It brewed, churning a potent melody to join in her anger. “What’s your problem?”
Douglas appeared amused. “He stared at Betsy. I didn’t like it.” Betsy, Douglas’s girlfriend, was foul-tempered and someone Lora had never cared for.
“Aw,” Jason said, patting Douglas’ back, his tone mocking. “She’s protecting her boyfriend.” Lora turned to glare at him when she heard Nicholas groan in pain. Still doubled over, he put his hands on the pavement and tried to stand up.
“Don’t let me catch you gawking at Betsy again, dipshit,” Douglas said as Nicholas stood. “And you,” he said to Lora, his voice threatening, “stay out of my business.”
“Make me.” She glared at him, fighting off the urge to sing and send him straight onto the freeway. Lora turned when she heard feet pounding on the pavement and saw Will approaching. To protect her, maybe, as if she needed it.
Douglas took a small step closer, until she could feel his hot breath on her forehead, for he stood at least a head taller. Her body tingled with the music. From a mile away, she heard the ocean speaking in its clear voice.
“Τραγουδήστε,” Sing, it said to her. “Τραγουδήστε μαζί μου.” Sing with me.
Lora clenched her fists, trying to ignore the ocean’s words, understanding her father would be furious if she were to subdue Douglas with her song. Around her, the wind picked up, sent in from the sea to give her power, and her hair billowed around her shoulders.
“Stop.”
Although she had expected to hear Will, another voice took her by surprise. A newly familiar voice. Ryan stepped forward to stand next to Lora, his face menacing, masking his dark features. “Leave them alone,” he said to Douglas.
“Who the hell are you?” Douglas asked, stepping away from Lora so his face was within inches of Ryan’s. She couldn’t decide who appeared more frightening, and the need to sing became much harder to bear. Lora closed her eyes, trying to stave of the urge, but it consumed her body until she trembled from head to foot. She needed to let out the song, needed to subdue the situation and control it the only way she knew how, yet the sensible part of her brain warned her against succumbing to her Siren impulses.
A hand on her shoulder jarred her from her desires. Will pulled her away from the two young men, propelling her toward his car.
“Wait!” she said, trying to escape his grasp, but he pulled her to him.
“Control yourself,” he hissed in her ear.
Will opened the car door and shoved her inside. Across the parking lot, Ryan helped Nicholas pick up his backpack. Douglas and Jason were sauntering away. Ryan waved to her as Will pulled out of the parking lot, and she gave him a sad wave back. He’d come to her aid and he’d only met her. Gorgeous and kind. A lethal combination.
Lora slumped into her seat and crossed her arms. The ocean’s song held her attention still. The song lingered only as a faint whisper.
“You didn’t have to stop me,” she grumbled. “I had everything under control.”
“Like hell you did!” Will’s eyes flashed in anger, and Lora noticed his knuckles were white from squeezing the steering wheel as he sped down the street. “If I hadn’t stopped you, the whole school would have figured out what we are by now. You’re supposed to be a Guardian, and you can’t even control yourself around a couple of stupid jerks.”
She couldn’t answer. Tension blazed within her breast, and Lora found herself unable to speak. She shook with anger and embarrassment, not only because of how she had lost her temper in front of Ryan, but also because of Will’s disappointment. Lora didn’t want to put her clan in more danger, especially with the Sons of Orpheus hunting them down. If she had sung, she could have exposed them all.
As Lora noticed the gray clouds wafting by, she wondered if Will was right. Maybe her actions posed a danger to the Clan. But she couldn’t ignore the urge to sing. If Lora didn’t sing with the ocean, she might as well ignore a part of her soul. She’d wanted to help Nicholas the best she could, but Will made her feel as if following her true nature would only hurt those she loved. Lora had accepted that her draw to the sea was actually stronger than the other Sirens because Devin had told her so. But to her knowledge, no other Siren she’d ever met possessed such a strong connection to their mother ocean. Not even Devin. Perhaps the ocean had called her name long ago, but it had only set her apart from the rest of the Clan. None of them understood her situation, or the stress she experienced. Will might be disappointed in her because he didn’t understand her differences from the other members of her clan, and Ryan might shun her if he discovered her true identity. Both scenarios bothered Lora to her very core.
The events of the past week overwhelmed her.
Lora’s eyes grew warm with tears and she fought them back, loathe to have Will see her cry. Keep it together, she told herself, at least long enough to make it home where she could drench her pillow with tears.
The sea must have heard her pleas, for Will pulled into her driveway just when she couldn’t hold the tears back any longer. Biting her lip to stop it from quivering, Lora grabbed her backpack, flew out the car door, and fled across the pathway to her house. She didn’t even greet her mother’s picture as she ran up the stairs and buried her head in her pillow. Outside, the sea sang a sorrowful melody.
Chapter Ten
The Sirens traveled single file across the beach through the dark night. They wore all black to respect those who had died, but their feet were bare, allowing the cold water to cleanse them on their way. Lora walked behind Devin at the front of the line. As successor Guardian, she held a position of power the others did not possess, granting her extra reverence and protection. Her father followed silently behind her and the remaining eighteen Sirens in the Clan trailed them.
They’d lost six in the past month and their small numbers frightened her. There were very few Siren clans left in the world; if she remembered correctly, there were only five. Two of those were in California, one in a remote town in Maine, one along the Greek coastline, and the last in a tiny town in New Zealand. The Sons of Orpheus wiped out some of the others, and the rest had died out over the years.
The sea rose and fell, black under the night sky, but it sang a welcome greeting to the Clan as they waded in its surf and climbed over its rocks. They reached a secluded, sheltered area of the beach where they wouldn’t be disturbed. Due to the high cliffs surrounding them, there were no houses or curious onlookers to disturb the memorial service.
Each member held a candle. Devin lit hers, then used it to light Lora’s. Lora then turned and gave life to her father’s wick; this sharing of the flame continued until it reached the last member at the end of the line. They turned, then, to face the ocean which called to them with its song, a sorrowful melody haunting Lora’s soul to its very core, filling her with grief and longing for her lost clan members. Fighting back tears, she swallowed and sang the chant of her ancestors.
η σειρήνα της θάλασσας έχει εμφανιστεί
Th
e Siren of the sea draws near
Πνεύμα της σειρήνας έφτασε
The Siren’s spirit has arrived
Ο ωκεανός καλεί στο σπίτι της
The ocean calls her home
πώς γλυκό να πεθάνουν μεταξύ των κυμάτων
How sweet to die among the waves.
Together, the Clan’s chanting became singing, which swelled in the small cove until it filled the air. Lora could feel its electricity flow through her as they sang the chant, over and over again. The distantly familiar sound of Will’s violin joined the melody, his bow flowing over the instrument.
Tears spilled down her cheeks. The haunting cry of the violin filled her soul and made her body shiver as she listened to its sad tribute to the dead. Their ancestors added to their voices, souls who still drifted in the ocean, joined with the sea for eternity.
They left the same way they arrived, but this time Lora and Devin were at the end of the line. As they left the beach and trudged toward their cars, Devin pulled Lora aside.
“You need to be very careful, Loralei,” she said in a whisper, as if the night could hear them and share their secrets with another. “The Sons of Orpheus will target you, I am sure, which means you must be diligent about never being alone.”
Devin’s face waxed pale, even against her long, silver hair, and her eyes were calm. “If I die . . .”
Lora put a hand to Devin’s mouth to stop her unthinkable words. “You won’t die,” she whispered back. “You can’t. I need you.”
Smiling, Devin put a hand on Lora’s cheek. “You are the only Guardian left after I am gone. Your mother was my only remaining child, which makes you my only grandchild. You are the one who must survive to keep the Clan together.”
Lora’s tears returned as she embraced her grandmother. “I’ll be careful, Devin,” she promised.
In the dark, someone screamed.
Startled, Lora and Devin turned toward the piercing noise, which sounded as if it were close to the water from which they’d come. Pounding footsteps approached, bringing Will, Lora’s father, and Mr. and Mrs. Lias into sight.
“It came from the cove,” said Marc Lias, and the six of them raced back to the sea, their bare feet thudding in the dark sand. Lora’s father pulled out a flashlight and scanned the rocky shore.
Another scream, but fainter this time. They stumbled over sand and stone. Lora’s heart pounded unnaturally. Singing being her only defense, she hummed a low, frightened melody in the hopes anyone within hearing range would be disarmed. The sand felt cold and dead beneath her feet, and several times she stubbed her toe against the rocks until it bled.
“I don’t see anything,” said Will, grasping Lora’s hand.
“Me either,” she whispered. Her eyes focused on the light shining on the ground.
“Over here!” Devin yelled. Lora and Will made their way toward Devin’s voice. Her father’s flashlight found her, then traveled to the ground. There, lying on the ground in a grotesque embrace, were Mr. and Mrs. Barbas, the oldest couple left in the Clan, and Violet’s grandparents. Their bodies lay one on top of the other, the sand stained crimson around them. Lora gagged and buried her face into Will’s chest. He put his arm around her and held her close, stroking her back as she tried to regain her composure.
“Dear God,” she heard her father mutter as he approached the old couple, their wrinkled skin shining in the moon’s glow. “How did this happen?”
“They were old,” Mrs. Lias said in a whisper. “They must have fallen behind, and the Sons of Orpheus were waiting. They saw our memorial.”
Lora shuddered, but a sudden idea shocked her soul. “Are they still here?” she said, though her words came out as a choked swallow. “The Sons of Orpheus might still be nearby.”
Her father used his flashlight to scan the area for their enemy, but it revealed nothing. As the others spread out, searching for any threat nearby, Lora said, “What should we do?”
“Call the police,” Mr. Lias said as he pulled out his cell phone.
Will stopped him. “Uncle Marc, we can’t call the police. How will we explain what happened?” The two men glowered at one another in perfect understanding. Mr. Lias lowered his hand and returned the phone to his pocket.
Lora tore her gaze from the dead bodies.
“They can’t know Lora was here,” her father whispered. “She found Victoria.”
“Robert’s right,” Devin said. “It might expose the Clan and put Lora in unnecessary danger.”
Their conversation rang in her ears.
They were actors performing a play. Her body felt numb while her eyes traveled back to the dead couple who had survived for so many years together, but now lay as corpses, joined for eternity.
“Will, will you take her home?” asked Lora’s father.
“Yes,” he said, grasping her hand tightly and pulling her away from the dead and the living. She followed, but faltered a few steps later.
“What if they’re still out there, waiting for me?” Lora said, her voice unnaturally shrill. Fright consumed her, and her body trembled uncontrollably. Lora realized she could not escape. The Sons of Orpheus seemed to be everywhere.
Will leaned down and whispered in her ear. “I’ll keep you safe.” He pulled her along, through the sand and rock, back to his car, locking the doors once they were inside.
The drive home was short. Will led her inside, pausing with her when she stopped to regard her mother’s picture.
“Did you hear her tonight?” he asked, but she shook her head and slowly moved to the sofa and lay down, curled up like a child. Will watched her settle in, but did not sit. “You’ll be safe here,” he said. “I’ll leave.” Lora shot up.
“Will, no! Don’t!” she said, her voice hoarse, terrified to be left by herself with a killer loose in Pacific Grove. Lora couldn’t stand to be alone in her house. “Stay with me till my dad gets home.” Will nodded and moved back to the couch to sit down, allowing her to put her head in his lap. She slowly started to relax as she listened to his steady breathing and he stroked her hair.
Lora felt a steady comfort in being with Will, as if nothing would change as long as she was near him. When Will stayed with her, life was predictable and quiet; however, Lora found herself longing for something more, for someone who stirred new feeling deep inside of her. Ryan. She’d only met him two days ago, but his presence invaded her life; he was around every corner, across the hall, permeating her mind. Lora tried to tell herself these yearnings were ridiculous. To start, she had only met him a short time ago, and she couldn’t date him, anyway. Sirens and humans could not be together. The rules forbade her from dating someone who wasn’t a Siren, for to do so would endanger her entire Clan. But Ryan had a reckless air about him that drew her in.
Will was the exact opposite. So much remained a mystery about Ryan, but the concept of discovering more intrigued her.
Ryan. Why did he make her feel like a traitor when she and Will were together? And after what happened tonight, how could she even think about romance? Lora did her best to quiet her mind.
They stayed silent for some time before Will asked, “Do you still miss your mother?”
“Yes,” she said, the hollow feeling in her heart returning. “I miss her every day.” He’d never asked her about her mother before, in all the years they’d been friends. “Why do you ask?”
Will shrugged. “You don’t talk about her, so I wondered how much you remember.”
Sighing, Lora hugged her legs to her chest.
“I remember some moments really well. Her laugh, mostly, is what sticks out in my mind. My mom, dad, and I used to go to the beach together, and she would spin me around and sing along with the ocean. I miss her voice. Sh
e had the most beautiful singing voice.”
“So do you,” Will said, pushing a strand of hair away from her sad, green eyes. “Your singing moves me. More than anything I’ve ever heard.”
Lora shook her head. “I doubt my voice is more magical than the ocean’s song,” she said, yawning. “Besides, I’ve always known I sound nothing like my mother.”
Having him close, touching her in this intimate way, made her uneasy. Maybe because part of her wanted to last like this forever, to stay safe with him; but the other part of her, the traitor part, ached for Ryan.
“I never heard your mother’s voice,” he admitted, “but your voice is beautiful.”
Speaking to him about their gifts made her curious. After a brief hesitation, she said, “It had been so long since I’d heard you play your violin. You played beautifully tonight.” Will kept quiet, so quiet that she wondered if she had offended him with her compliment.
“Thank you,” he finally answered, his voice almost a whisper as he rubbed her arm with his fingertips. “I played for the Sirens tonight; they deserved a send-off to their afterlife with the ocean.” His voice sounded quiet and heavy, and Lora felt her eyes growing tired, her head thick with exhaustion.
“You won’t leave?” she asked, yawning. Will shook his head.
Voices of the Sea Page 9
